Colostomy appliance



July 21, 1936. H. F. KOENIG coLosTdmY APPLIANCE Filed March 19, 1934Patented "July 21, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'z,c 48,39z comsromarrmn'oa Hen y F-Koenir. Chicago, Ill. Application March 19, 1984,Serial No. 716,235

5 Claims. (61. 128-283) The present invention relates to appliances inthe form of receptacles or containers adapted to be associated withartificial orifices in abdominal walls, and has for its object tosimplify and im- 5 prove such appliances. I

Heretofore appliances of this type have been bulky and rather cumbersomeand, viewed in one of its aspects, the present invention may be said tohave for its object to produce an appliance which will be thin and flatand thus produce no considerable outward projection from the abdominalwall. a

Heretofore it has been practically impossible to secure a fluid-tightjoint between the applionce and the abdominal wall and, viewed inanother of its aspects, the present invention may be said to have forits object to provide a simple and novel means whereby, without unduepressure or other cause or act that may produce inconvenience ordiscomfort, all danger of 'outward leakage between the contactingsurfaces of the appliance and the abdominal wall is prevented. Thevarious'features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized willhereinafter be 5 pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, fora full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, wherein: Figure 1 is a more orless diagrammatic view showing one of my improved appliances being wornby a human being in one of the several positions in which it may beused; Fig. 2 is a rear 3? view of the appliance, on a larger scale,thetie for the outlet being omitted; Fig. 3 is a section, on a stilllarger scale, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section, on thesame scale as Fig. 2, taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, only the upper 40part of the receptacle or pouch being shown;

and Fig. 5 is a section on line 5--5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, i represents a baglike receptacle orcontainer, or what may be termed a pouch, closed at the top andterminating onone side, at the bottom, in a contracted, spout-likeportion 2 which constitutes the outlet. The receptacle or container isclosed at the top and has its inlet through one of the side walls 3 nearthe top. The container is preferably com- 50 posed of two thin sheets offlexible rubber lying flat upon each other and joined at their edgesthrough being vulcanized. Consequently, when empty, the container isflat and 'very thin or, the container may be said to be formed of twothin,

55 flexible walls 3 and 4 that tend normally to lie flat against eachother. The inlet opening 5 in, the rear wall 3 may be of any suitablediameter as long as it is as great as the diameter of the opening 6 in awasher-like piece 1 adapted to contact with the abdominal wall ofthewearer. 5 around an artificial orifice in the latter and produce a sealto prevent escape of fluid from the orifice outwardly along the externalface of the abdominal wall. The member I, while made of soft rubber, isthick so as to be comparatively 10 stiff, and it is further stiffened byhaving embedded therein a fiat reinforcing washer 8 of metal or othersuitable material that surrounds and lies near the opening 8. Theexternal diameter of the member 8 is considerably less than the externaldiameter of the contact piece I, however. The member I is uniteddirectly to the wall 3 of the container by a wide annular joint adjacentto and surrounding the opening 5 and having an external diameter smallerthan the diameter of the member 8. It will thus be seen that normallythe flat, collapsed container will tend to lie directly against thecontact element, so that the over-all thickness is comparatively small.It will also be seen that the inlet opening for the device may be madeofany desired size or shape as it can be cut through the disk I and thatpart of the wall 3 which is joined to the disk, after vulcanization hasbeen effected. In

a the same suspended from a ring 9 cut out of a flat sheet of metal orother suitable material and having'a central opening having a diameterabout as large as the external diameter of the annular joint between thecontainer and the member I. It will thus be seen that the pouch is'supported from points far removed from the inlet openings 5 and 6, sothat there is no tendency to distort theseopenings in the use of thedevice, and therefore the openings may be cut to just the proper sizeand shape to cover all of the skin immediately surrounding an artificialorifice, 5

exposing only the mucosa into the inside of the pouch. Thus thesuspending ring 9 may be said to overlap the core ring 8. The ring 9 isapplied by passing the container or pouch bodily through the same, lowerend first, thus bringing the ring the joint between the wall 3 and theelement I. The ring 9 has laterally projecting, diametrically opposedarms I0, I0, the free ends of which are bent inwardly toward each otherinto the form of hooks II for attachment to a strap or belt such asshown at A in Fig. 1. The arms ID are preferably inclined outwardly orforwardly away from the contact element I so that the pull of the beltor band on the same will tend to draw the arms inwardly or backwardlyand thus cause the ring to press the contact element uniformly againstthe abdominal wall.

I have found that, when the contact face on the element I is smooth andflat, moisture will creep outwardly between this face and the skin ofthe wearer, through capillary action. However, I have discovered thatthis wetting of .the entire face of the contact element may be preventedand, at the same time, the contact element will be held securely againstlateral displacement, by providing the contact face of the element Iwith one or more annular grooves surrounding the opening 6. It is notenough that there be a groove, but the groove must be so shaped that atno point will there remain a line of contact between the element I andthe abdominal wall, extending uninterruptedly from the opening 6 to theperiphery of the element I. This interruption of contact between themeeting surfaces may be insured by causing the side walls of the groovein the face of the element I to form sharp angles with the bottom wallof the groove. This is the type of groove that I have illustrated, thesame being indicated at I2. It will be seen that, where the side wallsof the groove lie, say at right angles to the bottom wall, these threewalls will not touch the skin of the wearer in the vicinity of the twoangles or corners, because the annular projection or ridge created inthe skin of the wearer upon pressing the element I against it will havea rounded contour and will not fit into the angles or corners of thegroove. Consequently, while these ridges serve as mechanical interlocksto prevent lateral slipping of the appliance, they eifectively interruptthe continuity of contact between the element I and the skin of thewearer along any radius of the element I.

The various uses of these devices are well known and require noexplanation. I may say, however, that while my improved appliance isbeing worn the discharge spout is. closed by tying, by stretching arubber band around the same, or in any other suitable manner. Uponremoving and cleaning the appliance, the outlet spout is left open andis expanded by inserting, for example, a strip of metal bent into a hairpin shape and long enough to reach up to the vicinity of the inlet intoposition between the wall 3 and the contact element I and surroundingand in contactwith While I have illustrated and describedwithparticularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do notdesire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustratedand described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which comewithin the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A device comprising a flexible rubber pouch closed at the top andhaving an opening in a side 'wall, a thick flat washer-like rubberelement lying close to said wall with the opening therein registeringwith the opening in the wall, said wall and said element being directlyunited to each other alongthe boundary of the opening in said element, athin flat stiffening ring embedded in said element around and near theopening in the latter, and a thin supporting plate for the pouchpositioned between the said element and said wall and surrounding andfitting the joint between the same.

2. A device of the character described having a washer-like element forcontact with an abdominal wall, the outer face of said element havingtherein a continuous groove surrounding and spaced 3 apart from thecentral opening and surrounded by the marginal portion of said face.

3. A device of the character described having a washer-like element oneface of which is adapted for contact with an abdominal wall, the saidface of said element having therein a continuous groove surrounding andspaced apart from the central opening, said groove having side wallsforming sharp corners with the bottom wall of the groove.

4. A device comprising a pouch having an opening in a side wall, awasher-like element lying flat against said wall with the openingregistering with the opening in the wall, said wall and said elementbeing directly united to each other over a wide annular area surroundingthe opening in said element, and a supporting plate for the pouchpositioned between the said element and said wall and surrounding thejoint between the same.

5. A device comprising a pouch, a disk lying flat against a wall of saidpouch, said disk and said wall having registering openings therethroughand being integrally united over a comparatively wide annular areasurrounding said openings.

HENRY F. KOENIG.

